Thursday, November 15, 2007

AL BIGLEY INTERVIEW, Batman Illustrator, Part 1

Hello Everybody! It's time again for another Bat-Blog Interview & We would like to welcome our latest victim, artist Al Bigley.

Al has been doing commercial illustrations for some time now & his clients include DC Comics among other major companies. He's a great talent & he was nice enough to grant us a RARE interview.

Bat-Blog: Welcome Al, How are you doing?

Bigley: Just fine! Enjoying your great blog, as usual. Love all the items you're able to dig up!

Bat-Blog: Thanks for reading the Bat-Blog, I appreciate that plug ( ha ha ) & we're glad ya like it. ( Readers, Al doesn't know that I put a Bat-Blog logo on his T-shirt, as a joke, ha ha! ). So tell us, How long have you been a working artist?

Bigley: Well, since 1990 or so... I started by doing covers for Quality Comics, a firm that brought over UK comics, such as STRONTIUM DOG and 2000 AD, and published them anew in the USA. Soon after, DC called, with some Batman storybooks, and away it goes...

Bat-Blog: Can you tell us what artists have been an inspiration to you & why?

Bigley: As a child, I loved Neal Adams, like most comics fans in the early 70s. Even as a young person, I could see the draftsmanship and craft and realism in his artwork, and recognized it as the novelty in then-current comics that it was.

I also loved John Romita sr, who was realistic in another sense, and more in line with how I now think comic art should look. Any cartoonist takes the real world and tries to relate it in his drawings, and what you admire is their individual "voice" or way they relate what they see. It's also what we call the artist's "style."

I also loved the work of Nick Cardy, Norman Rockwell, Mort Drucker, Earl Norem, Irv Novick, John and Sal Buscema, Jack Kirby...I could go on and on!

Bat-Blog: We're HUGE Neal Adams Fans here as well. While visiting your website's Gallery Page we were very surprised by how much design work you have done with DC Comics, especially Batman. How did that begin?

Bigley: Like most newcomers just out of art school ( though I was out for 3 years by then), I was sending samples of my work to all the editors at the comics firms. I never got a real bite, but one day the late Joe Orlando at DC called me up and asked if I wanted to draw Batman!

Joe was then the head of the DC Special Projects department, and thought I was ready for the merchandise work they did there. Quite a compliment, as THAT'S the work they keep a careful eye on, since SO many more folks see it out in the general public, and they feel it must be the best representation of their properties.

Things just snowballed from there! Once the "Batman: The Animated Series" came in, I showed I could capture that style, created by Bruce Timm, and I got Batman work from that area also.

Lots of fun, as Batman was the character that I first became interested in as a child, and still think of as my favorite.

AL BIGLEY INTERVIEW, Batman Illustrator, Part 2

Bat-Blog: I noticed you did the artwork for the Batman Trading Cards box. Did you do any of the art for the cards themselves?

Bigley: I did lots of work for the BAS style guides. These are big books of images that merchandisers can use on whatever product they're producing. Towels, shirts, cards, clothes, curtains, you name it. The images are already drawn, approved, sometimes colored. The image on the card box came from my style guide artwork for DC! One of my favorites of all the images I did for them!I've been really surprised by some of that work. I've seen that same Batman figure used on a popsicle wrapper, beach towel, and one image from the guide ended up being made into a 3-D kid's night-light!You never know!

Bat-Blog: We love your McDonald's Happy Meal boxes for the Batman Animated Series. Did you do all four of them? Also, did you do any of the other art for this Happy Meal assignment?

Bigley: No. I can't recall who the other artist was, although I think it was Ty Templeton! I did two of them, and they were a blast! Talk about getting your work out into the general public!

Bat-Blog: Yeah, McDonalds is HUGE! Did you do any of the other art for this Happy Meal assignment?

Bigley: No, just the boxes. When I talk to kids in school about my career, they get so excited when they see the boxes! Did you know that McDonald's no longer makes them? The meals are all bagged now, I think.

Bat-Blog: Now, about your published work. At your website we saw a picture of the Batman Golden Book with The Joker titled "The Case of The Sticky Fingers". What was that like & have you done art for any more of those?

Bigley: That was for that first kid's storybook I mentioned. When Joe Orlando initially called. I also did a Catwoman book in the same series. They were great fun, as DC was just looking for them to feature "regular Batman," as opposed to the movie versions, the cartoon versions, etc...

AL BIGLEY INTERVIEW, Batman Illustrator, Part 3

Bat-Blog: OK Now, on to the packaging design for the Batman Animated Series action figures by Kenner Toys. How did this come about & what was your favorite part of the process?

Bigley: Since I was already doing Special Projects work, they thought to have me try out on doing work for that series. I ended up doing tons of art for the BAS style guides, toys, shirts, etc.The toy action figure art was especially fun!

Bat-Blog: We noticed the drawings are pretty accurate to the figures. Did they have them made already & if so, did they send you "prototypes" or the actual toys?

Bigley: I got to use the toy prototypes to draw from, as well as a general rough sketch from Kenner. I had to put the character "on model," and also give him or her an exciting action pose, and show off any weapons or accessories they came with.Of course, I had to send the prototypes back. My toy collector pals were excited to hear which characters were finally getting made, since I had to prepare art months in advance of the figure hitting the store shelves!

Bat-Blog: That's cool. I really love these & have all of them in my personal collection.

Bigley: I have a few, also! Keep in mind, these were all produced in the days before DC DIRECT and such, so this would have been the only action figure appearance then of characters such as Harley Quinn, Creeper, Mad Hatter, etc...

Bat-Blog: Yes, we loved that they did those really obscure characters too. The Batman Animated series is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest cartoons ever made...period. If you watch them today they still hold up really well & I'm sure they will be Super Classics in the far future.

AL BIGLEY INTERVIEW, Batman Illustrator, Part 4

Bat-Blog: OK, now...What's the deal with these wonderful illustrations you did that have a Christmas theme?

Bigley: Those are all done for super fan, Tim Chandler! Tim collects original comic art, most featuring his favorite character, Poison Ivy, and we team up every year to come up with a theme that involves the Bat-characters! Kinda tough, but somehow we pull it off every year! The idea is to work with what the viewer sees first, then, once the card is unfolded, they get the whole picture!I also convert some of these into cards I send to those in the biz every Christmas season...

Bat-Blog: Oh yeah, we think these are all really great! The one with Batman in Santa's sled with Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, & The Joker is my personal favorite! It's an awesome graphic for a Christmas card but I think it would make a great Christmas ornament too!

AL BIGLEY INTERVIEW, Batman Illustrator, Part 5

Bat-Blog: What kind of work are you currently doing? Also, can you tell us if you're doing any new Batman-related art for the future?

Bigley: I did some art for what will be an online romance comic book, for one of the big romance novel publishers, as well as some t-shirt work for an ad firm in Statesville, NC.

I'm also doing work on designing characters and doing some comic strips for the Food Lion supermarket folks, involving safety and conservation efforts in their warehouses and such. Sometimes an artist does lots of work like this, or design work, that the wider public never sees.But I've done so many other projects in the past, including work for Marvel Comics, Children's Television Workshop, LucasFilm, Golden Books, Hershey's, and others.

I also recently did some artwork for the WaterKeeper Foundation, run by Robert Kennedy Jr. It's a comic strip with superheroes that teaches abut water conservation issues. Not just the ecology, but legal issues, big business, etc...Interesting!

As far as my return to Batman, I pencilled and designed several Hallmark DC Christmas ornaments back in June! Talk abut lead-time! The ornaments also spotlight Superman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and the usual famous foes! I don't know if these will be fully produced or not, but they sure were fun to create!

I've really had a good time doing this. I've gotten to work with not only some of my childhood favorites as far as characters like Batman or Spider-Man are concerned, but also some of my artistic favorites growing up. It can also be fun not quite knowing what you'll be doing 4 weeks or 4 years from now. This week I'm drawing comics, next month I'll be working on product designs for Shrek 2 toys, the next will be a logo design, etc... Keeps it interesting!Thanks! I hope your readers find this interesting!

Bat-Blog: Ha, Yes! Al I know our readers are gonna love this. You're a very talented artist & this has been a great interview. We wanna thank you for being a wonderful guest. Please keep us updated in ANY future Batman projects you do, that's exciting. Now, get back to work!!

This concludes the interview with Mr. Bigley. If you want further information about his work be sure to check out his website.http://www.albigley.com

AL BIGLEY INTERVIEW, Batman Illustrator, Part 6

All of us here at the Bat-Blog want to thank Al Bigley for bring such a great guest! We know our readers are gonna love this inside information & all the wonderful illustrations. We hope many of you check out his website & if you're a company looking to hire somebody this guy has a lot of talent! A trademark thing we do here at the Bat-Blog Interviews page is make some Desktop Wallpapers that are sort of related to the interview we just did so here are 2 to enjoy! The 1st one uses some of Al's incredible clip-art that I'm sure many of you have seen on Batman-related products. It's my favorite. I love the clean sharp lines & the bright-red looks cool too. The 2nd one is a montage of some of the many Kenner Batman: The Animated Series Action Figures that showcase his artwork. With many readers of this page also being toy collectors this will probably be the most downloaded of all.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 1

This is the 1st part to our latest BAT-BLOG INTERVIEW.

We talked with Christopher Jones about his involvement with the current DC Comics BATMAN STRIKES Comic Book. This is the comic book adaptation of the current THE BATMAN Cartoon. He is the penciller for that book & a great artist! Here at the BAT-BLOG we love his sharp drawing style. Mixed inside this 9 part interview are original comic book art pages of his pencils & a few color graphics of his covers. We have also thrown in a few Batman Wallpapers from THE BATMAN TV Series you can use for your desktop or MySpace layout! Because of Blogger space limitations we had to break this interview into 9 parts but just keep reading, you'll get it!!

BAT-BLOG ~ What was your favorite comic book as a kid? CHRIS ~ Batman has been my favorite superhero for as long as I can remember. I grew up reading the Haney/Aparo Brave and the Bolds and a lot of the other 1970s stuff. I was also into Superman and Spiderman.

BAT-BLOG ~ Did you collect comic books then ( what titles )?

CHRIS ~ I've been accumulating comics to read all my life, but I've never really had a collector mentality, and usually haven't been consistent enough in my buying to have a lot of complete runs. I was into DC and Marvel pretty equally growing up, and have always enjoyed older comics going back to the Golden and early Silver Age.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 2

BAT-BLOG ~ When did you 1st think, "I wanna be a comic book artist"?

CHRIS ~ I've got drawings from when I was four or five years old featuring Batman and other heroes, and I would make up crude comic books with full-page crayon drawings telling stories that are pretty incomprehensible now. I think I've always wanted to grow up and draw comics. I drew a weekly comics feature for our local newspaper when I was 10 years old, and did some other amateur work through my teens. My first professional gig was providing art for Street Heroes 2005 for Eternity Comics in 1989 when I was twenty.

BAT-BLOG ~ Did you have any favorite artists from that time period who really inspired you?

CHRIS ~ I grew up loving Neal Adams, John Byrne, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Michael Golden and others. When David Mazzuccelli came on the scene - first on Daredevil and then Batman: Year One - he really blew me away. He was someone I actively tried to emulate for a while. Later I got into artists including Alex Toth, Steve Rude, Mike Mignola, Wally Wood, Dick Sprang, Jerry Robbinson, Alan Davis, Bruce Timm and Darwyn Cooke.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 3

BAT-BLOG ~ How did you learn to draw so well? Did you go to art school?

CHRIS ~ I've had very little formal training. I took art classes in high school, but they really didn't have anything other than general art classes that were a little basic for the level I was on at the time. I did a lot of "independent study" work with my art teacher, which meant I'd just do art projects on my own with minimal supervision from him, and then get grades based on the time and effort I'd put in. I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for about a semester, but couldn't afford to stay beyond that. It's a very expensive school and I'd gotten a really crappy financial aid deal. Most of what I know about drawing I picked up on my own, through books, talking to other artists, reading interviews and articles, and just working at it on my own.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 4

BAT-BLOG ~What was your 1st official job working w/ comic books? Also, How did you start with DC?

CHRIS ~ I got that first job drawing Street Heroes 2005 through the writer, Steve Jones. Another artist had originally been assigned to the book, and Steve suggested me as a replacement, since we'd done some amateur work together and we'd known each other for years. I did a couple of sample pages, and got the job! That book only lasted three issues, but it got my foot in the door and one job led to another. I did a number of jobs for both Eternity comics and Caliber Press over the next two or three years.

After several years in the "minor leagues" writing and drawing comics for many smaller publishers, I managed to get work at DC doing fill-ins on a title called Young Heroes in Love. I'd tried to get work with Warner Brothers Animation the year before and had some samples in my portfolio done in the style of Batman: The Animated Series. That didn't work out, but the editor and writer of Young Heroes in Love saw those samples and thought I would be a good fit on YHIL because the regular artist on that book drew it in a somewhat cartoony style.

I drew four issues of Young Heroes before that book ended, and that led to a number of Justice League related stories for that same editor. These were mainly short stories for various Justice League anthologies for the DCU and were drawn in a more traditional superhero style, and then I ended up doing several issues of Justice League Adventures, which meant a return to the animation look for me. At the time that title had no set creative team, just a rotating pool or writers and artists, so when I heard that there was going to be a new Batman animated series, I started asking around as to whether there would be a tie-in comic, who would be editing that, and if I could get on that book. Well, I got the job, and have been the regular artist on it ever since. As of this writing, I've drawn almost 30 issues.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 5

BAT-BLOG ~ What do you like best about pencilling Batman Strikes? Also, what's the process like? Do you get a script from DC Comics & then YOU get to decide how everything is laid out??

CHRIS ~ The best thing is getting to draw Batman every month for a living. I love Batman and all the supporting cast, both as characters and as subjects to draw.The process is pretty much like drawing any other comic, except that I have model sheets of how the main characters look on the TV show, and I have to keep to that basic look. Otherwise I have a lot of the same freedom to bring my own creativity to bear on telling the story as I would on any other book.

I start with being given a full script - and we've got some great people contributing scripts now: J Torres, Scott Beatty, Jai Nitz, and Russel Lissau among others. Then I do little thumbnail sketches of each page so I can get an idea of how I want to lay out each page and how the pages will flow from one to the next, and to identify what things I might have to design or find visual reference for.

Then I start doing more elaborate drawing. I tend to do most of my rough construction work of figure drawing on scratch paper so when I go to the actual art boards I can keep the linework very clean and clear for the inker. I scan my rough drawings and composite them into a page in Photoshop. At this stage I can re- scale or alter the images to get the page composition I want, then I print these assembled roughs at the size of the art board. I take those printouts to my light table and tighten and refine the drawings as I do the final pencil art for each page.

That artwork then gets passed on to the inker, who on this book is Terry Beatty, who had also inked the last several years of the previous Batman animation tie-in comic. After that the artwork is scanned, and the color and letters are added digitally. Which isn't to suggest that someone pushes a button and the coloring and lettering just happen. It's still a part of the creative process performed by a specialized artist, they're just using the computer as their tool, rather than working on the physical artwork.

Break: THE BATMAN Desktop Wallpapers, Part 1

We interupt this BAT-BLOG INTERVIEW to bring you 2 Batman Wallpapers to brighten your PC desktop or use in your MySpace layout! These are graphics from THE BATMAN! ( Art may, or may not, be by Christopher Jones but is presented here for fans of the TV Series & Comic Book! ). Enjoy! Now, The interview continues...

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 6

BAT-BLOG ~ Where do you live now? Married? Kids? What are some of your hobbies?

CHRIS ~ I live in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, which is a suburb of Minneapolis. I share a house with my partner Melissa, who is a comics professional herself. Back in 1998 I helped found a science fiction convention called CONvergence which I still help run to this day, which is held each year on the first full weekend of July. The convention gets a little bigger every year, and we had more than 2,500 people attend last year. Between CONvergence and my comics work, that pretty much eats all my free time.

BAT-BLOG ~ Do you collect anything, like vintage toys or comics? Barbie Dolls maybe? ( Just kiddin' about the Barbies, ha ha ).

CHRIS ~ I'm a huge movie fan, and tend to accumulate DVDs faster than I seem to find the time to watch them these days. I don't collect a whole lot of vintage toys, although I do enjoy picking up toys related to any comics projects I'm working on.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 7

BAT-BLOG ~ What are some other projects you're working on, other than Batman?

CHRIS ~ The one ongoing project I'm connected with right now is Dr. Blink, Superhero Shrink, which I co-created with John Kovalic of Dork Tower. He scripts, I pencil and ink, and Melissa Kaercher provides coloring and lettering. The first trade paperback for Blink just hit stores at the beginning of February. You can find out more about that at www.DrBlink.com.

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 8

BAT-BLOG ~ Do you have any advice for young artists who are wanting to make a living at this?

CHRIS ~ It's a crazy business and it gets harder and harder to break into. If you're getting into it to find fame and fortune, you can probably find it more easily in another field. If you want to do comics so badly that you'd stick with it for years whether you make any money at it or not... well then you might just get somewhere. Study the human figure and work on your drawing in general by looking at the real world, not at other comic book art. Just learn to be the best artist you can. You can figure out how to apply it to comics later. When you're ready for that part of it, there are some great books by Will Eisner and Scott McCloud on the subject.

Break: THE BATMAN Desktop Wallpapers, Part 2

The interview will continue after these messages...Here are two more THE BATMAN Desktop Wallpapers you can use in your MySpace Layout or to brighten up your desktop! ( Art may, or may not be, by Christopher Jones but is added as an extra bonus for fans of the TV Show & Comic Book ). Enjoy!

CHRISTOPHER JONES, Penciller for BATMAN STRIKES, Part 9

BAT-BLOG ~ For this space please give any information you'd like to share with our BAT-BLOG readers:

CHRIS ~ You can find out more about what comics I've worked on, see samples of my art, and look for my upcoming convention appearances at my website: www.ChristopherJonesArt.com. If anyone would like to learn more about the convention I help organize, visit www.CONvergence-con.org.

This concludes the BAT-BLOG INTERVIEW with Christopher Jones. We would like to thank Chris for all his help & look forward to more work from this awesome Batman Artist!

Friday, February 09, 2007

MARK RACOP, 1966 Batmobile Replica Car Maker : Part 1

Wow! This is the BAT-BLOG's very 1st Interview! This page will be a new feature of the BAT-BLOG. For our 1st Bat-Interview we asked 1966 Batmobile Replica Car Maker Mark Racop to participate & he was very gracious to accept, Thanks Mark! Mark Racop owns a company in Logansport, Indiana called FIBERGLASS FREAKS! The small group of artists ( Yes, I said Artists! ) make incredible replica cars of the original 1966 Batmobile like Adam West & Burt Ward had in the classic 1960's TV Series. The attention to detail is insane!

This is the 1st part of the long interview with Mark. Because of space limitations we have had to break it down into 4 smaller parts but keep readin', you'll get the idea!

OK Mark, First off, Thank You very much for being our 1st victim! We really really love your '66 Batmobile Replica Cars & are very excited to start askin' you some questions! We posted a thread at our Bat-Blog Message Board about this interview & asked the readers to come up with a few questions of their own about what they would like to ask you. Here are a few things they wondered about.

Bat-Blog : How many hours does it take to complete one?Racop: Over 1,00 hours of labor go into each car, spread over 6 months.

Bat-Blog : Have you ever been tempted to make it a different color?Racop : We joked about an all-chrome Batmobile once, or alternating the striping and black colors, but we've never followed through on our threats!

Bat-Blog : Have windshield wipers been designed for this car yet?Racop : There are no wipers available due to the compound curve of the front windshield.

Bat-Blog : What do owners do when it rains? Because there's no roof!Racop : If it is a light rain, usually the water will pass right over the cockpit, but if it is a heavy rain, it's best to park the car in a carwash, or better yet--don't get it out if rain is in the forecast! Poor Chris Woodside goes down in history as the first Batmobile replica owner to have an accident. Why? He was in a hurry to get home because of rain!

Bat-Blog : Do any famous celebs own one? Does Adam West own one? Who buys them?Racop : Russ Martin, a famous DJ in Texas, owns two Batmobiles. I've heard rumors that Burt Reynolds and David Copperfield both want the original car, but turned down replicas. Millionaires, museum owners, casino owners, and promotions companies are the usual buyers. Some buy them for promotions, but others just want a cool car with which to pick up their kids from school! ( Bat-Blog is thinking, "Must be rough! ha ha!!" ).

MARK RACOP, 1966 Batmobile Replica Car Maker : Part 2

Bat-Blog : Do you ever makeother bat-vehicles like a Bat-Bike or Bat-Boat, etc?Racop : We haven't built any other bat-vehicles yet, but a Batcycle and a Batboat will probably be in our near future.

Bat-Blog : What type of Engine? Top Speed?Racop : We use the stock Lincoln 460 engine, but we replace the distributor, the alternator, the oil pump, the radiator, add two electric cooling fans, and we replace the carburetor with an Edelbrock. ( More detailed specs can be found at Justin's Batcave Website, we'll post that later on down in the interview. )I don't know what the top speed is. The fastest I've driven a Batmobile is 85 miles per hour. My partner Jeff Sandberg has had one over 100 miles per hour.

Bat-Blog : What kind of car body do you start with?Racop : We start with a 1972-1979 Lincoln town car. We cut the entire body off the car except for the floor pan and part of the firewall. We do a LOT of work to the chassis and the floor pan, and then we make the body completely out of fiberglass in our custom made molds. The car is built in sixteen sections, then the mold is bolted together, and we fiberglass the seams. The sixteen mold sections are unbolted, and we have a beautiful Batmobile, ready to flip over and attach to the chassis. The original Batmobile was a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car that never went into production. It was a one-of-a-kind vehicle that will never be duplicated because it cost $250,000 in 1955!

Bat-Blog : Speaking of prices, how much are these Batmobiles you make?( This was the #1 Question asked, ha ha ).Racop : Our Deluxe Build is $85,000, and our Standard Build is $75,000. The Deluxe has working gadgets, like the rocket exhaust flame thrower.

Bat-Blog : How many have you made total?Racop : We are building our fifth car, we've repaired a Futura sculpture, we're repairing Chris Woodside's wrecked Batmobile, and we're making the body for #6. We have two more Lincolns torn down and ready for bodies, and we have another Lincoln ready to tear down.

We're pausing this interview for a minute to present to you an actual TV News Broadcast of another interview with Mark Racop! We will return shortly.

MARK RACOP, 1966 Batmobile Replica Car Maker : Part 3

Now back to our regular program : Part 3 of the Mark Racop BAT-BLOG Interview!

Bat-Blog : Do you collect any vintage toys, if so, what kind?

Racop : I collect 1966 Batman toys and photos. I have a decent Star Trek and Star Wars toy collection. My wife Jill, on the other hand, has over 1,000 dolls and action figures of almost every kind - from the Green Hornet to Thundercats; from Mermaids to custom-made dolls that she makes.

Bat-Blog : Have you met George Barris & what does he think about you making these cars of yours?

Racop : I met George Barris once, but for only a few minutes before he was whisked away to the airport. We did not have a chance to discuss replica building.

Bat-Blog : Have any of these cars ever been featured in a Commercial or TV Show?

Racop : My first car, the one I built when I was 17 years old, has been featured in two commercials, a music video, and in the fan film "StarTrek vs. Batman." Our current cars have been featured in several newspapers, a couple of magazines, and on the news in both Indiana and Ohio.

Speaking of TV news broadcasts, here's PART TWO of that ground breaking news story!